Cancellation, deferment of new projects under scrutiny at Parliament today

KUALA LUMPUR, July 21 — The government’s plans on postponing or cancelling new projects are expected to be the focus of today’s Dewan Rakyat sitting.

According to the Order Paper uploaded on the Parliament’s official website, the topic will be raised by Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai), asking the Prime Minister to name the projects with cost savings involved during the Ministerial Question Time.

Also listed is a question posed by Wong Hon Wai (PH-Bukit Bendera) to the Senior Minister of Defence on the form of the trilateral cooperative arrangement (TCA) among the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia and whether military cooperation will be extended to other Asean countries.

During the question and answer session, Ahmad Fadhli Shaari (PAS-Pasir Mas) will ask the Prime Minister to state the total allocation for flood relief that has been channeled to the affected states for the victims of the 2021/2022 Northeast Monsoon floods.

Apart from that, Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli (PH-Lumut) will ask the Senior Minister of Works to state the measures taken to address the issue of 50,000 Bumiputera contractors who will soon go bankrupt due to the increase in the price of construction materials.

After the session, the Ministry of Health is expected to table the Poisons (Amendment) Bill 2022 for the second reading and to be debated by Members of Parliament (MPs).

Also of interest is the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2022 and the Provision on Prohibition of MPs Switching Parties listed as item number six on the Order Paper.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar had earlier said the Bill was proposed to be debated on July 27 and 28, subject to the discretion of the Parliament Speaker.

Apart from that, he said the meeting had proposed a timeline for the engagement of the Legal Affairs Division and the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) with the government MPs to be held on July 25 and with the Opposition MPs on July 26.

Wan Junaidi said after obtaining the approval of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara, the Bill would be presented to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong between Aug 11 and 26 for approval and was expected to be gazetted between Aug 29 and Sept 2.

The current Dewan Rakyat sitting has been scheduled for 12 days until Aug 4. — Bernama